RE: Beyond Doubt: Whispers of the Unseen - Chapter 2
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To my unending frustration, most readers/editors/workshoppers and even small-press publishers kept telling me my opening pages lacked urgency and conflict. The market demands an exploding helicopter on page one. Why the frustration? I see the conflict as real and compelling - a woman almost age 30 has kept her flying career a secret from her parents, but she's getting ready to risk their wrath by telling them what she really does.
To find an editor who gets you, who likes your characters, who enjoys being in the world you've just built - that's the challenge! That, and getting lots of readers to keep turning the pages, saying More More MORE.
My favorite books have not been popular or even particularly famous.
Good Morning, Young Lady (1953)
And of course Harry Potter - Book One is the best - the series has many flaws, as critics love to point out, but so what! We love Harry!
If you love the TV show Dexter, don't waste your time on the books. The first one is ok, but the last one is beyond terrible.
So, "Write what you like to read" is risky advice for me, because I love obscure authors who never made the best seller lists.
Well I can relate slightly as in I love the Dark Tower Series and do not care about other Stephen King books that sold much better. But I am lazy, I prefer audiobooks to books as I just cant find (make)the time to sit and read.
But I don't feel like I have a choice I write what I like, my urgency is to get the stories out, but I guess I can start them off with conflict instead of narration 😎
Audiobooks - if you can multi-task, listen to books while weeding, mopping, washing dishes, cooking, that'd be great. Maybe if I try ear buds and Bluetooth I can make this work, but it's too hard for me to hear above the background noise.
#conflict
Doesn't have to mean running for your life and battling a cyborg.
Star Wars opened with a simple conflict: farm boy wants to get off the planet, go see the universe, but his adoptive parents want him to stay home safe.
Keep writing... come back later to see if you need to redefine what's at stake, in the opening pages...
What Is Conflict in Literature?
This is an internal conflict, meaning that the opposition the character faces is coming from within. This may entail a struggle to discern what the moral or “right” choice is, or it may also encompass mental health struggles. All other types of conflict are external—meaning that a character comes up against an outside force that creates the conflict.
(Click on the link to get all six)